Revelation 16:16 - "And
he gathered them together into a place called in
the Hebrew tongue Armageddon."

Whenever a military conflict is going
on in the Middle East, it comes to mind the prophetic
warning of the battle of Armageddon. First of all,
Armageddon is not a battle fighting for oil fields
or to conquer a nation in which the army of one nation
fights against the army of another one. Rather quite
different, Armageddon is the culmination of a spiritual
battle, at the time the whole sky is in commotion for
the soon coming of the King of Kings in the firmament
above. The armies of the nations, that were ready to
fall on their prey, are halted by the voice of God
and by a mighty earthquake that levels the ground of
the entire earth. Rev. 16:17-21.

In the times of King Ahab and Jezebel,
the Israelites were led into the worship of Baal. It
was necessary for Elijah to intervene with the power
of God and a question to arouse the conscience: "How
long halt ye between two opinions? If the Lord be God,
follow him: but if Baal, then follow him." 1Kings 18:21.
Elijah proposed each side to offer a sacrifice to his
god, and the one responding with fire that will be
the Lord. That day on Mount Carmel, the prophets of
Baal, found their powerless god; but after a short
prayer from Elijah, fire came down from heaven that
even consumed the stones and the water. And the people
falling on their faces were crying out: "The Lord,
he is the God; the Lord, he is the God." 1King 18:39.

Today, in the twenty first century, the
same debate is still going on, a debate between two
opinions on how to worship the Lord. Some people have
chosen to worship the Lord as prescribed by Him in
the first four Commandments of the Law of God. Exo.
20:2-11. Others have decided to worship the Lord following
the traditions of men and their theological philosophies.
These are the two opinions inducing the assembling
of all living humanity at Armageddon.

The battle began long time ago, even
before Eden; it began in heaven: Lucifer, a created
being, broke the circle of love, and growing from disaffection
toward the Creator and criticism of God's Law went
up to open rebellion against the King of the Universe.
Isaiah 14:12-14; Eze. 28:12-15... Rev.12:7-9.

Once on earth, Lucifer (now Satan) didn't
lose time to inject the seed of discontent, the second
opinion into Eve's mind to discard the truth of the
word of God: "Ye shall not surely die... and
ye shall be as gods..." Gen. 3:4, 5. In the mind
of the generation before the Flood, these declarations
gave them the idea that they were wiser than Noah.
And today, beside being a challenge to the spreading
of the gospel of the Lord JesusChrist, the same declarations
are becoming anchors of belief on large sections of
the earth population, converting them in authoritarian
militant movements that don't want to submit their
ideological stand and themselves to any regular army.
These sectarian wars are spreading out disaster, pain,
poverty, desolation and death.

Cain and Abel came into this world, and
the battle took a backyard stage. Abel had a loving
and obedient heart toward the Creator God; he took
a lamb and offered him over the altar to God, as required,
that all sacrifices should point forward to the sacrifice
of the Lamb of God for the sins of the world. Gen.4:1-8.
Cain wanted to do his own will and worship God after
his own way: he took from the fruits of the ground
to place it before God. Seeing that his offering was
not accepted by God, he raised his hand and killed
his brother Abel. At the very beginning, right there
was a little bit of Armageddon.

Four thousand years later, when Christ
was on earth, the most religious people on earth, the
Jews, wanted to kill Jesus, a man of their own blood.
They could not tolerate any longer His teachings claiming
to be the Son of God. Pilate tried to deliver Jesus
from death, but the uproar burst out on the mob as
if all demons were crying out: "Crucify him, crucify
him." Luke 23:20-23; Mark 15:13, 14. Another phase
of the coming Armageddon: Religious people ready to
raise their hands against those who claim to be obedient
to God.

A great change came to the Christian
Church when on 313 AD, at the Edict of Milan, Constantine
recognized Christianity as religio licita and
ended the persecution against the Christians. N. Cheetham, A
History of the Popes, p. 16. Then, the rich and
the ruling class came into the church with their power,
and with the traditions of the pagan world, generating
an avalanche of innovations to the doctrines and rituals
of the church that soon took it away from the legacy
of the apostles and the simple gospel of the Lord.

It was shown to the Apostle Paul that
this apostasy was going to take place in the church
before the Second Coming of Christ: "Let no man deceive
you by any means; for that day shall not come, except
there come a falling away first, and that man of sin
be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and
exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that
is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple
of God, shewing himself that he is God." 2 Thessa.
2:3, 4.

On 533 AD Emperor Justinian granted the
throne of power to the Bishop of Rome. It didn't take
effect until 538 AD when General Belisarius cleared
Rome of the dominion of the Ostrogoths. The supremacy
of the Papal Power lasted 1260 years until February
10, 1798, when General Berthier, sent by Napoleon,
took Pope Pius VI prisoner and put an end to the political
power of the Papacy, for a while. It was foretold by
prophet Daniel when he saw a little horn growing up
among the other horns of the fourth power. Daniel 7:8,
20, 21, 24.

What the little horn would do? "And he
shall speak great words against the most High, and
shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think
to change times and laws: and they shall be given into
his hand until a time and times and the dividing of
time." Daniel 7:25. That time is equal to 1 year +
2 years + ½ year = 1260 prophetic days or years. The
same power is presented again in Revelation 13:1-10
with a time span of 42 months. 42 x 30 days = 1260
days = 1260 years in prophecy. Num. 14:34; Eze. 4:6.

The reformers from the time of Martin
Luther and the Sixteen Century began to point the finger
of prophecy to the Papacy, declaring that he was the
antichrist and the little horn of the prophecy according
to what history and the passing of time was revealing.
To deviate those accusations from the head of the Papal
system was necessary to develop another method of prophetic
interpretation outside of the historic method. A Jesuit
priest, Luis de Alcazar, (1554-1613) developed the
preterist interpretation, placing Nero as the antichrist
and all the prophecies fulfilled from Antiochus Epiphanes
until Nero's time. In this way they were free from
falling under any prophetic application.

Another Jesuit priest, Francisco Ribera,
(1537-1591) developed a futuristic interpretation.
He took the last week of the seventy-week time prophecy
in Daniel 9 and placed it in the future. In his interpretation
the Jews are taking part with the rebuilding of the
temple and allowing the vile ruling of the antichrist,
in the middle of a great tribulation. The seven years
will begin with the secret rapture of the elect, so
none of them will have to suffer the scourge of the
last plagues. The ones left on earth will have a second
chance to be accepted in Christ kingdom at the end
of the seven years.

With careful study of the prophecies,
there is no support in the Bible for either one of
these two prophetic interpretations. Bible prophecy
is clear, you can follow the fulfillment in the pages
of history, and have a pretty good picture of where
we are in the stream of time. After the apostolic church
came the apostasy, "the falling away," 2
Thessa. 2:3. Then the little horn came to power in
538 AD for 1260 years. Because of what he did, the
reformers called him 'the antichrist' also. Historians
assign to Papal Rome the torture and death of more
than 50 millions souls during that time and the Inquisition. "And
shall wear out the saints of the most High." Dan.
7:25. During the Middle Ages, these were the most religious
people on earth; but they could not tolerate any one
following the simple gospel of the Lord. From here
we can take another sample of the spirit dominating
the soldiers that are ready to fight at Armageddon.

The preaching of the reformers; the deadly
wound upon Papal Rome in 1798 when Napoleon took away
the political power of the pope, Rev.13:3; and the
rising of a new nation, the United States of America,
with religious liberty for all and separation of church
and state, Rev. 13:11, have opened a window of liberty
spanning now more than 200 years that made possible
to fulfill Christ commission of preaching the gospel
to all the world. Matt. 28:18-20; 24:14. This prophecy
is being fulfilled today by the printed page, radio,
satellite television, the internet, and by word of
mouth.

How far away is Armageddon? A coalition
of religious powers who are coveting the power and
the resources of the state for their programs and activities
will succeed in breaking the commitment of the nation
to the separation of church and state. That is the
message of Revelation 13:12-17. The Bible refers to
that union as the formation of "the image of the beast."
Rev. 13:15. This one becomes an image of the politico-religious
power that for so long dominated the old world. While
God asks His children to worship Him, these powers
will be demanding worship too, and worship enforced
with the sword of the state.

The people following the religious coalition
are deceived by the power of Satan. When confronted
by Elijah, Satan could not bring fire down from heaven;
but now, he will do it to make believe it is the power
of God on his followers, that Almighty God is on their
side. Rev.13:13.

How sad the surprise to the people behind
these religious powers when Christ finishes the Judgment
in heaven, closes the door of salvation, and let the
seven last plagues fall down on earth. They were expecting
the secret rapture, and here they are dying under the
plagues. They see those who "keep the commandments
of God and the faith of Jesus," those who were
preaching the three angels message, Rev. 14:6-12, those
who obey the Creator and Redeemer, that none of the
plagues are falling on them. Like their old brother
Cain, they think they can do something. But this time
is different: Christ intervenes with His mighty power
to deliver His children. The voice of God halt the
attacking army, and soon Christ Second Coming is covering
the whole sky to rescue His children. This is the Armageddon
of the Bible, believed it or not! Daniel 12:1, 2; Rev.16:17,
18; Rev. 19:11-21.

A word for the last days...
When the leading churches of the United States, uniting upon such points of doctrine as are held by them in common, shall influence the state to enforce their decrees and to sustain their institutions, then Protestant America will have formed an image of the Roman hierarchy, and the inflicction of civil penalties upon dissenters will inevitably result. Maranatha, p. 194.

A word for the last days...
As men reject the institution which God has declared to be the sign of His authority, and honor in its stead that which Rome has chosen as the token of her supremacy, they will thereby accept the sign of allegiance to Rome--"the mark of the beast." Maranatha, p, 169.